BB prints Tk22,500cr notes to support six weak banks

The Bangladesh Bank (BB) on Thursday announced it has printed notes worth Tk22,500 crore and lent the money to six financially weak banks for supporting their depositors, "temporarily" walking back from its previous pledge of avoiding the move.

Central bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur disclosed the latest move adopted by the monetary authority to ease a liquidity crisis in the county, at a press conference.

The governor announced the central bank would withdraw the loan gradually by issuing bonds, in a bid to avoid consumer price hikes.

During the Awami League regime, repeated money printing to shore up liquidity for the country’s ailing banks further worsened the already elevated inflationary pressures.

On 20 August, Ahsan H Mansur told reporters the practice would be shelved for the sake of the broader economy.

It is worth noting that with support from the Awami League government, alleged money launderer Saiful Alam, and others borrowed extensively violating regulations from the affected seven banks, and later failed to pay up.